Gartom - a request

[Old Popsider]

Gareth, could you please answer the question that has been asked so many times, and so far has not been fully answered by anyone.

Just how aware is JR about our frustration and annoyance - to put it mildly- about the piss poor pr/admin machine at DRFC, and exactly what does he intend to do about it?? He must be aware to a certain extent now that the question of the season ticket pricing fiasco has been put to him.

He cannot say that he is satisfied with the way things are run at the Keep-'em-in-the dark-Moat Stadium. I am certain that if the same thing had happened with any of his companies heads would have rolled by now.

Please ask him to come out with a statement that lays out his views on the matter and just what he is going to do to address it.

Thanks.

[gartom]

I agree he needs to sort things - but he is an honourable chap and wont wash the DRFC dirty laundry in public.
I will press him on our 'Div 4' type approach  - and how the own goals are getting in the way of his overall strategy. He has to make some hard choices as the marketing /PR is simply not up to what is expected. Lets see how I get on today!

[RobTheRover]

Thats what I want to talk to you about this morning, Gareth.  We've tried the \"we'll work with you\" approach, and it clearly has been disregarded at the most crucial of moments.  I think the gloves need to come off now.

[gartom]

That's the line i took last night when I called JR. I hope he gets back to me today. did you read my note on the 'mods only' section ?

[River Don]

The way the Rovers operate never ceases to amaze me, it's a very long standing joke now.

I did think when the KM2 came on board things might become more professional but nothing seems to change. When you look at the calibre of people who own the club and their backgrounds in business, it is frankly staggering that they let the football club carry on in this manner.

It's a mystery to me.

[bedale rover]

River Don wrote:

The way the Rovers operate never ceases to amaze me, it's a very long standing joke now.

I did think when the KM2 came on board things might become more professional but nothing seems to change. When you look at the calibre of people who own the club and their backgrounds in business, it is frankly staggering that they let the football club carry on in this manner.

It's a mystery to me.

i think that most people on here are overly harsh on the sales and marketing dept  i think that the money generated by them is substantially more than ever  the amount of corporate sponsors attest to that

where people are also complaining about the attendances and not publicising the matches etc  is not entirely fair  given the general media coverage that the rovers get in the local and regional media does almost all their job for them

where the frustration comes from is the inability of the club to fill the KMS despite the success of the club

and that is what sells seats successand we have had plenty of that recently but still the attendances stubbornly refuse to rise

but has been pointed ad infintum on this forum is the historical failures  ie spending most of the last 50 years in the basement whilst other local clubs flourished has diminished the supporter base in the town  i think that the DRFC strategy of players going to schools giving out free tickets and raising the profile will pay dividends but it is a slow process

 i think  that we are behind other clubs in the region but we are catching up and need to allow time for this to bring results

however as i have recommended on here in the past i think that the best thing that the board can do is to buy the KMS and then expand it so that we can lower prices to attract more punters

but as things stand at the moment there is no alternative to raising prices in the short term

[Smeg]

RobTheRover wrote:

Thats what I want to talk to you about this morning, Gareth.  We've tried the \"we'll work with you\" approach, and it clearly has been disregarded at the most crucial of moments.  I think the gloves need to come off now.

Whilst I agree with this approach, you must be careful as John Ryan is the sort of person that is used to getting his own way so he may \"take his ball home\" if he feels he's being criticized.

[River Don]

bedale rover wrote:

River Don wrote:

The way the Rovers operate never ceases to amaze me, it's a very long standing joke now.

I did think when the KM2 came on board things might become more professional but nothing seems to change. When you look at the calibre of people who own the club and their backgrounds in business, it is frankly staggering that they let the football club carry on in this manner.

It's a mystery to me.

i think that most people on here are overly harsh on the sales and marketing dept  i think that the money generated by them is substantially more than ever  the amount of corporate sponsors attest to that

where people are also complaining about the attendances and not publicising the matches etc  is not entirely fair  given the general media coverage that the rovers get in the local and regional media does almost all their job for them

where the frustration comes from is the inability of the club to fill the KMS despite the success of the club

and that is what sells seats successand we have had plenty of that recently but still the attendances stubbornly refuse to rise

but has been pointed ad infintum on this forum is the historical failures  ie spending most of the last 50 years in the basement whilst other local clubs flourished has diminished the supporter base in the town  i think that the DRFC strategy of players going to schools giving out free tickets and raising the profile will pay dividends but it is a slow process

 i think  that we are behind other clubs in the region but we are catching up and need to allow time for this to bring results

however as i have recommended on here in the past i think that the best thing that the board can do is to buy the KMS and then expand it so that we can lower prices to attract more punters

but as things stand at the moment there is no alternative to raising prices in the short term

Sorry but I can't agree, the Rovers have been found lacking in a whole host of areas in communicating to their customers and their customer service over an extended period. This is just the latest example of it. The frustration is when they have been offered advice they've they take very little notice, it seems as though they resent it.

As for attendances, building them is a very slow process but it is happening. They can only build on sustained success on the field and they're delivering that so it is a shame they aren't doing more while the opportunity is there.

For me the best solution to the issue of ticket prices would be to rip out the seats in the south stand and put in some safe terracing. Unfortunately that is beyond the control of the Rovers.

[bedale rover]

whilst the rovers admin has been found lacking that is not necessarily the marketing dept

i suppose if you are going to lay the blame at anyones door then most peoples favourite scapegoat would be dave morris  he is expected to organise all of the departments to carry out the wishes of the board

[PACMAN]

My experience of the Marketing/Commercial Department has been excellent. My company sponsor a page in the programme (no names as I don't want to be accused of anything) and we have been delighted both with the way it's been handled and the response we've had from it. In fact I had an email last week from our account handler telling us that he's leaving because he's landed a similar job at Manchester United so things are maybe not as bad as the picture being painted by some!!

However, I would agree that this ST issue is being handled very badly, the timescales, particularly given the financial climate in this country, are wholly inadequate and I'm sorry JR but the club is in severe danger of scoring a massive OG with its core fanbase on this one!!  :angry:

[gartom]

I will have some news very shortly.......Cheers, Gareth